Evening
by kouklitsa
Summary: A relaxing evening of contemplation and imagination running wild.


_This is a response to the lovely fanfiction written by Statsgrandma, Nikegoddes and Miz Em on the Fanrush Board, as I have used events that occurred in their fanfiction into this one. You don't need to have read these stories but it does add to the fun factor :-)_

Disclaimer: None, as in absolutely nothing here is mine .

Summary: An evening of pondering and letting imagination run free.

Characters: Charlie/Don/Alan/Cloby

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"I know shouldn't" Charlie muttered to the six-pack of beers he just lifted out of the refrigerator "but just this once I'm going to pretend I don't know any better."

It couldn't have been a better time to feign stupidity than tonight, for it had been a long time since Don, Colby his father and of course himself had been able to enjoy an evening of relaxation and undisturbed, old-fashioned fun together.

Alan had wisely set a slow pace with consuming the gold colored liquid at the beginning of the evening which the boys had decided to follow, feeling quite content to bridge the time between the one they had finished and the newly served cold one with nacho chips with molten cheese and jalapeno's or onion cheese Pringles.

The reason why tonight was so much different than the other times they had sat together was that this time the TV set hadn't been turned on. In fact, it hadn't even been looked at. From the moment everyone had settled in, conversation had been pleasant without the need to have the TV turned on and set to a random channel filling the silence as it had on many occasion before.

"I didn't know she even had a boyfriend, let alone a husband" Colby stated as he pulled out one of the beers Charlie had set on the coffee table.

"We'll now you know she does. Actually she's been married for three years now and apparently had been having troubles getting pregnant" Don Answered.

"And you know this how…? Colby asked with one raised eyebrow.

"I asked and she told me" Don said flatly. "It's called showing interest Granger"

Alan and Charlie chuckled as they heard Colby snort and grabbed a fist full of nachos.

"Actually, Adrianne's not the only one." He retorted, feeling the need to express that he had a fair knowledge of what went on in his colleagues' lives. So what if he didn't know about Adrianne, he knew about three other agents that were expecting.

Don, seeing right through Colby's feeble attempt to show he wasn't completely self absorbed shook his head. Two of the three were only a couple of weeks away from maternity leave and the third had given birth to a healthy baby boy only last week. Don decided to let the matter slide and give Colby a break.

"Anyway, I'm happy for her" Don said before grabbing another beer himself.

"I can't imagine what it feels like, creating a new life. The idea alone is absurd" Charlie said.

"What do you mean by that son?" Alan asked, slightly alarmed by his youngest tone of voice.

"I mean, how does one even go about that?"

"Well Charlie, I trust we don't have to go over the details on that one, I kind of hoped the birds and the bees talk we had when you were five sufficed. I have to say, with the questions you kept asking I ended up painting you a pretty clear picture." Alan chuckled.

Colby and Don laughed at Alan's obvious sarcastic tone and Charlie's flustered face as the realization of his fathers' words sunk in.

"What I meant was, you don't sit down for dinner and discuss having children in between talking about running out of toilet paper and asking what's for desert" Charlie explained.

"Charlie, there is a time and a place for everything but talking about having children is a topic that has no time or place. It just… comes up" Alan said.

Charlie looked as his father, not quite knowing what to make of his last comment. He had a hard time believing discussing something as life altering as having children would 'just come up'. For some reason he had always believed that it would be one of those magical moments, less magical than finding out you had in fact created a new life, but nonetheless magical and romantic.

Looking at Charlie's creased forehead Alan continued "When you really want something as important as having children so badly, you don't care when you discuss it. All you want is to know if your partner feels the same way you do. Time and place are meaningless at a time like that. Thought you might want to avoid having this discussion when your partner is in less than a good mood….I had to learn that the hard way."

"You and mom…?" Don asked his curiosity spiked.

"Oh yes, I'll spare you the details on that one but the ranting she had done just before I dropped the questions should have been a clear indicator it was not the best of times to have that conversation. I remember her shrieking like a banshee about how inconsiderate and blunt I was right after I asked her"

"That doesn't sound like mom at all" Charlie stated.

"Bare in mind that was over thirty eight years ago, and your mother was a young woman in the prime of her life and had big plans for her future"

"What changed her mind?" Colby asked

"Don did" Alan said with a smile.

Colby presented a wide grin as he stared at his slightly embarrassed boss.

"What are you looking at me like that for Granger" Don growled.

"You never grew old of that neat little trick did you?" He answered with a sly smile.

"What neat little trick exactly are you referring to?"

"Showing up when you're least expected"

Everyone burst out into laughter, even Don couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, someone needs to make sure you do what you get paid for, and that includes you doing your own reports"

"If I got paid more maybe I wouldn't mind writing those reports" Colby complained. "Anyway, staying on topic, believe it or not I've always envisioned myself with a big family"

Charlie laughed at that. Big, strong, tough Colby with a herd of children was just somewhat hard to imagine.

"What? Have your own Granger Clan or something?" Charlie sniggered.

"Me wanting a family is that so hard to believe? Colby asked astonished.

"I guess I never thought of you in that way" Charlie answered apologetically.

"Don't worry about it; it's not something I talk about much, but yeah… I do want a family one day. Imagine, meeting the right girl, marrying her, having triplets…"

"Triplets?" All three cried out.

"Hey, my fantasy, so I get to have whatever I want"

"Be careful what you wish for, you might end up getting it" Alan warned.

Colby smiled and shrugged. Grabbing the last of the nachos on the plate Alan got up from where he was seated and gave the boys a questioning look. When their faces indicated that more nachos would indeed be very much appreciated he made his way into the kitchen for a refill.

"So, have either of you ever thought of the future in that aspect yet?" Colby asked all of a sudden.

Both Charlie and Don stayed silent, so Colby took that as a sign to prod further, Charlie being his first victim.

"Charlie…come on bro. No secret fantasies of marrying Amita and having children with her?" Colby teased.

Don, who felt quite content Colby decided to go after his little brother couldn't resist and decided to participate.

"Yeah, Charlie, surely you have a fantasy that involves marrying Amita. She could get pregnant without you two even having plans to have children yet."

"You'd have a girl" Colby added.

"And she'd adore me, because I'm the cool uncle" Don continued.

Charlie felt his cheeks burn. He was anything but prepared for the conversation to have taken this turn. With Amita possibly taking on the job at Harvard she actually was a little bit of a sore subject for him but he wasn't going to let that show. He would get back at his brother for his mockery by playing his own game.

"Well at least you have me married off to a very bright and attractive woman. Never mind the fact the pregnancy isn't planned, life has too many variables to plan properly. You Don, are living proof of that as dad mentioned earlier and I'm sure mom and dad had something else in mind than to have me attending college still in my teens"

"To tell you the truth the only fantasy I currently have is to get this thing with Robin off the ground and make it into something more than what it is now." Don said more truthfully than he had wanted.

Both Colby and Charlie were taken slightly aback, it being very un-Don-like to open up without urging. But Colby snapped out of the initial shock soon enough to end up putting his foot in his mouth.

"What if you have a daughter in her teens with a woman you were briefly with during college? That'll save you the trouble of fantasizing about having kids with Robin if that's to much just yet."

Charlie braced himself and shot a terrified look at Colby. Had he gone mad? Don was going to kill him for this, and he was going to kill him slowly of that he was absolutely sure.

"Yeah sure, I'll find out I have a teenage kid I never knew about and Charlie ends up finding out his lovely wife is pregnant with their second only four months after they had their first" Don growled his voice dripping with sarcasm and took another drink of his beer. "And then you can tell me what you triplets are up to while Charlie and myself try to make sense of these crazy lives we lead"

Colby laughed and Charlie remained stunned but Don wasn't yet finished, the beer having made him a little more lose-tongued than he would care for in the morning and continued as Alan returned with a hot plate of nachos and cheese.

"While we're at it, why don't we have Reeves get pregnant with Larry… no… even better, make it Charlie's as well after a hot and steamy weekend and to top it off we could have your cat Kritter have kittens as well. Just to make sure we've covered everyone."

Charlie stared at his brother in total disbelief. No way had those words just come out of his mouth. Charlie watched his father sit down after putting the plate on the coffee table and wondered if he was just as shell shocked by what Don had just said but was quickly provided an answer to his question.

"Actually Don, I think you left out David in this fantasy story of yours" Alan stated.

Don and Colby chuckled. Count on Alan to adopt seamlessly into the conversation they were having.

"Ok, that's it. After this six-pack no more beer" Charlie said in a stern voice.

"Chuck… you think this is the beer talking and it's not. The beer is just an ointment, it makes whatever's inside here" and he pointed at his head" Come out easier here" and pointed at his mouth.

Charlie frowned, they had eaten a good, solid meal and truth be told only two beers could never have effected on Don that much so Charlie let is slide. It was probably because his brother was in such a relaxed state, enjoying himself with his family and friend when he was used to see him wrapped up in a case or worrying about something or the other.

Just when Charlie was about to open his mouth the doorbell rang.

"Ah, that must be Larry, Megan and Amita" Don said as he got up to open the door.

"You didn't say they were coming?" Charlie asked.

"You didn't ask"

"What about David? When is he coming?"

"He's not. Said he had something important to do" Colby answered.

"Aaaah…. Perhaps I bit the bullet when I said you missed David in that fantasy story of yours Don." Alan chimed in.

"How's that Dad?"

"Seems to me he's working on the basics so you get to fill in the blanks"

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End file.
